Agenda item

i) Report of the Constitution Working Group to be presented by the chair Councillor Colin Hay regarding revisions to the Constitution in relation to new regulations.

ii) Report of the Standards Committee to be presented by the chair Councillor Fisher regarding a revised Planning Code.

The chair of the Constitution Working Group, Councillor Colin Hay, introduced the review of the Constitution report which detailed the recent work of the group and set out their recommendations.

Councillor Harman welcomed the recommendations on behalf of his group and suggested that consideration should be given to combining the Annual Council meeting with the inauguration of the Mayor ceremony, although he acknowledged that Annual Council was combined with Selection Council in election years. Councillor Hay suggested it was a matter for Group Leaders to discuss.

A member asked about the cost of drafting the social media protocol. In response Councillor Hay advised members that there were a number of councillors in other councils who had had to resign because of their inappropriate use of social media and therefore he considered it perfectly reasonable for this council to invest a limited amount of time to produce some short guidance for its members.

Upon a unanimous vote it was

RESOLVED THAT

1.    The following be approved

Access to Information Rules – Appendix 2

Employment Rules – Appendix 3

Rule 2.13 Council Procedure Rules – Appendix 4

Rules 5.3 and 15.3 Committee Procedure Rules and Overview   & Scrutiny Rules – Appendix 5

2.    The two independent persons on Standards Committee be appointed to the Disciplinary Committee for such term as is necessary for the purpose of making recommendations to Council on disciplinary action against a statutory officer and, in the event of one or both of those persons not being available, to authorise Disciplinary Committee to appoint for the same term and purpose an independent person or persons from another local authority’s Standards Committee

3.    The Committee Procedure Rule 3 (Substitute Members) be amended as proposed in paragraph 5 of this report

4.    The miscellaneous changes set out in Appendix 6 be approved

5.    The inclusion as appendices to the Constitution of the documents in Appendix 7-9 be agreed

6.    Authority be delegated to the Borough Solicitor to make any textual or other amendments which are necessary to ensure accuracy, consistency and legality of the Constitution when incorporating the revisions authorised by Council.

The chair of the Standards Committee, Councillor Fisher, introduced the report on the Planning Code of Conduct. The report explained that the Planning Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council in October 2006 had been reviewed and amended by a Working Group of Members and approved by the Standards Committee for adoption by the Council.   The draft revised Planning Code of Conduct reflected changes to legislation, the Code of Members’ Conduct and best practice which had taken place since 2006.  The Council was asked to adopt the revised Planning Code of Conduct for inclusion as Part 5D of the Constitution.   

A member asked for an explanation of the apparent anomaly that a member of the Planning Committee could declare an interest in an item and be required to leave the room once public speaking had been completed but a ward member who was not a member of the committee could stay even though they too have an interest.

The Head of Law, advised that there was an important difference between members participating in the decision-making process and those not participating. He would be happy to look at the relevant parts of the Code again to ensure consistency. A Member stated that the same issue had been raised at Standards Committee and the Committee had decided to remove the requirement for a ward member to remove themselves from the chamber after taking advice from the Monitoring Officer.

Councillor Coleman spoke as a former chair of the Planning Committee who had initiated the need for a simple reference guide for members on planning issues. He commended the work of officers and members in producing this valuable guide.

Upon a unanimous vote it was

RESOLVED THAT the revised Planning Code of Conduct attached at Appendix 1 be adopted and be included as Part 5D of the Council’s Constitution.